The deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found on three more farms in northern Nigeria, where thousands of poultry have died recently. Officials said tests had confirmed bird flu on farms in two different states to where Africa's first case of bird flu was confirmed on Wednesday. Chickens have been dying in Nigeria for a month, leading to fears that the virus may have spread widely. The government says it has now imposed a quarantine on the affected farms. Large-scale culls of poultry have also begun. The World Health Organization has called for a massive public education campaign, to stop bird flu from spreading to humans in Nigeria. "The single most important public health priority at this stage is to warn people about the dangers of close contact with sick or dead birds infected with H5N1," a WHO statement said.... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Twelve militants and seven Russian policemen have died in a clash in the southern Stavropol region, Russian security officials say. The fighting erupted on Thursday in Tukui-Mekteb, a village just north of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. According to Russian media reports, the militants had seized two houses. Hostilities flared up again in Chechnya in 1999 and Russia has refused to negotiate with the separatist rebels who want independence. On Friday up to 300 police officers and elite troops surrounded and then stormed a house in the village where the rebels were holed up, Russian security officials said. Earlier, several policemen had died in a clash with the rebels. Villagers were evacuated when the fighting erupted on Thursday. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4700492.stm

Archaeologists have discovered an intact, ancient Egyptian tomb in the Valley of the Kings, the first since King Tutankhamun's was found in 1922. A team led by the University of Memphis found the previously unknown tomb complete with unopened sarcophagi and five undisturbed mummies. The archaeologists have not yet been able to identify them. The Valley of the Kings near Luxor in southern Egypt was used for burials for around 500 years from 1540BC onwards. The tomb, the 63rd discovered since the valley was first mapped in the 18th century, was unexpectedly found only 5m away from King Tutankhamun's, a member of the team told the BBC's World Tonight. Patricia Podzorski, curator of Egyptian Art at the University of Memphis, said the team had not been looking for it...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4700032.stm

A leading US digital rights campaign group has warned against using Google software which lets people organise and find information on their computers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the latest version of Google Desktop posed a risk to privacy. This is because a feature in the software lets Google keep personal data on its servers for up to 30 days. Google says it plans to encrypt all data transferred from users' hard drives and restrict access. The new version of its desktop search software comes as Google is battling efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to hand over data about what people are looking for. Some of Google's main competitors have already complied with the request for details about people's search habits. The case has focused attention on the issue of personal information held by internet companies. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4700002.stm

Malaysia's prime minister says a huge chasm has opened between the West and Islam, fuelled by Muslim frustrations over Western foreign policy. Abdullah Badawi, seen as promoting a moderate form of Islam in largely Muslim Malaysia, said many Westerners saw Muslims as congenital terrorists. As he spoke at a conference in Kuala Lumpur, thousands protested outside at cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Their publication in Europe has led to demonstrations across the Muslim world. Friday's demonstration was the biggest in Malaysia's capital for years. "Long live Islam. Destroy Denmark. Destroy Israel. Destroy George Bush. Destroy America," protesters shouted as they marched to the Danish embassy in the rain from a nearby mosque. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4699716.stm

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Thursday narrowly voted to recommend putting the strongest type of warning possible on widely prescribed stimulant drugs for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.The FDA had asked the committee to consider what types of studies could be used to look at whether the drugs, which include Ritalin, Adderall, Focalin, Methylin, Metadate and Concerta, increase the risk of sudden death, heart attacks or strokes. An FDA report released prior to the meeting said that 25 children and adults had died suddenly from 1999 to 2003 after taking ADHD drugs.Doctors wrote more than 31 million prescriptions last year for stimulant ADHD drugs, according to IMS Health, a pharmaceutical information company. ...http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-02-09-adhd_x.htm?csp=34